The Egyptian Ministry of Endowment has warned against serving meals in mosques during the holy month of Ramadan as part of measures to fight the coronavirus pandemic.
The Ministry has stressed that any mosque employee who fails to guarantee the implementation of precautionary measures will be dismissed.
The Ministry had ordered certain regulations to be followed in mosques during Ramadan, including restricting Tarawih prayers to half an hour, abstaining from heaving meals there, bringing the prayer mat from home and respecting social distancing.
The Egyptian Coptic Orthodox Church also said that it would ban any COVID-19 patient from entering its premises.
Pope Tawadros II urged any person who has coronavirus symptoms not to go to church.
The Egyptian Ministry of Health and Population on Friday denied rumors that hospitals in Sohag province, south of Cairo, were unable to cope with a surge in coronavirus cases.
Health Ministry Spokesman Khalid Mujahid said that 17 hospitals are receiving COVID-19 patients in Sohag.
The total number of patients receiving treatment at hospitals there reached 414. There are 950 beds, 70 ICU beds, and 18 ventilators in the province, he reassured.
Egypt recorded Wednesday 872 new coronavirus cases, according to the Health Ministry. Another 48 patients died.
The total number of COVID-19 confirmed cases since the outbreak began in Egypt hit 219,774, according to the statement.
The number of recoveries reached 165,348.
